About us

HELLO!

The energetic team at always possible use facilitation, design, problem-solving, story-telling and research to help ambitious organisations shape the future.

Our specialist thinkers and do-ers balance technical and human-to-human expertise. We join up the spaces between business innovation, skills, culture and place to make things happen.

From architects to aerospace companies, puppet theatres to primary schools, business networks to big data analysts, we help people who care about the future to answer critical questions about who they are and where they want to be, where change is coming, where to focus energy from how to build prosperous, sustainable, ambitious communities.

BRIEF HISTORY

Richard Freeman founded always possible in 2014 after 15 years of problem-solving in the public, private and voluntary sectors. He had come to understand what makes a great organisation fizz with good ideas – and what makes other teams waste time and energy chasing dead-ends.

Built on principles of of collaboration, co-design and nimbleness – challenging entrenched systems that no longer work – always possible is a home to serious consultants who like to play with ideas.

Research studies, participatory events and curated innovation projects have led to systemic and organisational change; enabling always possible associates to build on valuable relationships and collaborations with businesses in construction, engineering, arts and media, sport, retail, education, local government, fashion, professional services, digital technology, social enterprise and more.

In 2018, The Possibility Club was born as a more experimental place to connect frontline practitioners with policy-makers and influencers.

always possible CEO, Richard, chairs the Brighton Big Debate

WHAT DO WE CARE ABOUT?

This breadth of our work is not a mistake; it’s integral to how we can connect your organisation to new adventures and new thinking outside of the usual boxes. (Psst. We HATE silos.)

We passionately care about the ingredients of what makes a prosperous place, effective networks, thriving organisations, and culture-rich communities.

We can help make your work bigger, better, smarter and more joined-up.

OUR VALUES

Most organisations don’t just want to be told what they have been doing wrong.

Nobody wants an off-the-shelf package that works for someone else but isn’t quite right for them.

Too many of our clients said that working with consultants had been scary, too expensive or had resulted in massive amounts of work to do (unhelpfully ironic when not having enough time is the main challenge to solve).

Well. Nah.

We have ten questions for every opportunity, request or potential piece of work:

1. does it help us build strengths in facilitation events, research or mentoring?

2. will it open up opportunities to connect grassroots with policy-making?

3. does it allow us to be curious, exploratory and impactful?

4. does it clearly and meaningfully build on previous learning?

5. will we succeed in adding lasting value?

6. are we the right people to take this to a new level?

7. is there enough money or resource to do it properly?

8. it is interesting and exciting?

9. will we be able to deliver it on time, on budget and exceed expectations?

We only work with people whose ideas we love and people we can genuinely help. We are critical friends who can help unlock the too-safe, brick-wall, round-and-round thinking. We get to know how you tick, but remain objective and ask difficult questions, sometimes the obvious questions that many experts no longer think about.

We believe in ecosystems that collaborate, and businesses that perform better because they better understand how to excite their customers, staff, audiences and investors.

We believe in creativity, strong leadership behaviours and design-led thinking – and the conditions to solve any knotty problem.

We commit over 100 hours per year of staff time in pro-bono support, volunteering, promotion, advice, mentoring, fundraising and facilitation to non-profit organisations who need a leg-up in their mission to change the world.

BEING USEFUL

Our workshops and research missions are co-designed with you. You will know what the return on investment will be from the beginning and there are no surprises with outcomes, cost or impact. We’ll give you a project plan or workshop plan, depending on how we’re working together.

If it is an evaluation or research project, we’ll break-down the whole development process. You will always know what we are discovering as we go; it has to work for you, and all of your stakeholders, at every stage.

At the end, your critical decisions will be easier to make. We promise.